James ii



(No Model.)

J. H. GERRY & M. E. HUNTER.

PNEUMATIC MECHANICAL SYNCHRCNIZB'C. PCR CLOCKS. No. 349,494.

Patented Sept. 2l, 1886.

M d/W, ma

Nv PETERS. Pnowmhngmpher, washingnm D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

JAMES Il. GERRY, OE BROOKLYN, NEY YORK, AND MARSHALL E. HUNTER, OE OAKLAND, OALFORNIA; SAID GERRY ASSIGNOR TO SAID HUNTER.

PNEUMATIC MECHANICAL SYNCHRONIZER FOR CLOCKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 349,494, dated September 21,1886.

Application filed January 13, 1F36. Serial No. 188,381. (No model.)

To all whom zit may concern:

Re it known that we, .li-mins H. GERRY and Mirnsimm. E. HUNTER, citizens ofthe United States, residing, respectively, in Brooklyn, in

5 the county of lings and State of New York, and Oakland, in the county ol Alameda and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Mechanical Synchronizers for Clocks, of which to the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to the class of apparatus employed for periodically correcting the positions of the hands of clocks, whether electrically or mechanically operated, and adjusting them to indicate true time.

The object of the invention is to provide means for setting in operation at predetermined intervals mechanical devices for moving the hands into the proper positions to indicate truc time, and to accomplish this end through a 'force which is independent of the power employed for setting the devices in operation.

The invention is in some respects an im- 5 provement upon an invention for which an application forLetters Patent,No. 176,238,was

filed by James IT. Gerry September 5, 1885.

In the application referred to there is placed upon the arbor of the minute-hand a plate having two pins projecting therefrom in directions parallel to the arbor itself, and between which it is designed that a wedge-shaped block shall be dropped at the moment the hands are to be set. Should the minute-hand be too slow, it will be advanced, and il' too fast it will be pushed backward. r[he employment of a wedge-shaped opening through which a correcting pin was to be dropped was also contemplated as a modification of the invention 4o described. lzy the present invention certain improvements and additions are made, the more important of which consists in the employment ofa detent serving to arrest the movement of the lever carrying the correcting-pin when the latter is between the arms or within the opening, and retaining it there for a moment for the purpose of holding the hands at rest. This detent is snbsquently removed from the path ofthe lever, whereupon the correctinggo pin passes completely through the opening. As the clock advances after being set, the lever is gradually moved into the position to repeat the operation, and when it is in such position it is temporarily locked there by an automaticallyoperating detent. The detent is thrown out of engagement with the lever when the minutehand has come within the corrccting'limits.

In the application above referred to the correcting devices are designed to be set in operation by an electric current transmitted through 6o an electro-magnet. Ry the present invention it is proposed to employ a pneumatic release in lieu of the electro-magnet, although an electro-magnet may be employed, if found desirable. The pneumatic device is itself of novel construction, being designed to not only respond quickly to pneumatic impulses, but also to quickly resume its normal position when the impulse has ceased. This is an essential feature, as will hereinafter appear. 7c

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a iront elevation of the correcting devices and such parts of a clock mechanism as are necessary to illustrate the invention, and Eig. 2 is a side elevation ol' the same. Figs. 3 and 4 75 are details of the pneumatic device.

Referring to the figures, A represents the frame of the clock-work, and R the minutehand arbor. Upon this arbor thereis carried a disk, O, having a projection, c. Upon this projection are two converging arms, c and c?. The inner ends of the arms, however, are parallel with each other a slight distance, as shown. 'It is designed that a pin or frictionroller, w, shall, at the proper moment, be passed between these two arms kfor the purpose of moving the minute-hand backward or forward, accordingly as it is in advance or behind the truc time, and thus causing it to be corrected. The pin or friction-roller c is car- 9o ried upon a lever, E, which is designed to be moved into a position so that the roller ci is out of the path of the arms, by means of a snail, D, carried upon the arbor D. This snail, by striking against a second `frictionroller, d, gradually raises the lever after it has been permitted to fall, in a manner which will hereinafter appear. A second detent or split pin, d, is carried upon the lever E, and after the shoulder d of the snail has passed roe beyond the roller d, the lever is held in its upward position by this split pin until the snail has passed beyond its path. The lever is` still sustained, however, by means of adetent, e, carried upon a lever, F,which is actuated at the proper moment, in a manner hereinafter described.' The detent e engages a pin, e', carried upon an extension of the lever E, the faces of the detent and pin being beveled so that as the lever is raised the pin will push -past the detent until it is above it,whereupon the detent will fall beneath the pin and remain there until the lever F is moved.

rlhe lever F is carried upon an arbor, f, to which there is attached a movable plate, g, of a pneumatic device, G. The plate g constitutes one side of a bellows having expanding sides. A tube, h, enters beneath the lower plate of the pneumatic device, which plate is stationary, and when a current of air or gas is forced through the same, the upper plate, g, is raised, thereby turning the arbor f, and causing the detent c to release the pin c. rlhe lever E thereupon falls, and the friction-roller c, by passing between the arms c and c2, turns the arbor B forward or backward, as may be necessary, setting the hand at the predetermined point-that is to say, the point required to indicate the moment at which the release takes place. It is designed, however,

- that the lever E shall be arrested before the roller c3 has passed entirely beyond the arms c and c, and that-it shall stand for the moment with the roller between the two parallel ends ofthe arms, thus causing the hand to come to rest at the point atpwhich it is` to be set. This is accomplished by placing a second stop or detent, c2, upon the leverF in such position that when the lever is moved to release the pin e the detent e2 will `intercept the path of the pin and arrest the movement of the lever. The moment the lever F is allowed to return to its normal position, however, the detent e2 releases the pin e', whereupon the friction-roller c passes beyond the arms c and c2 and the arbor B is then allowed to revolve.

It will be evident that it is necessary not only that the bellows or pneumatic device should respond quickly to an impulse sent through the tube 71., but that it should also be capable of collapsing quickly, to release the lever E from the detent c2. To accomplish this a valve' consisting of plate his located beneath the movable plate g of the bellows, and this plate is designed to close the-opening h3, through which the air is allowed to escape from the bellows, when required. This Valve or plate 7L is pivoted at one side, as shown in Fig. 4, in such manner that it may be pressed against the plate g and close the opening h3. It is normally pressed downward or opened by a spring, h2, inclosed in an open tube leading from the plate g and constituting the outlet'h. \Vhen, however, air is suddenly forced into the bellows,the valve, overcoming the tension of thespring,is pressed upward and closes the opening through the plate g. In this manner vthe plate g is caused to rise. When the pressure is released,-the spring opens the valve and allows the air to escape, whereupon the plate g suddenly falls. The entire bellows may be inclosed, if desired, in a ease, G, secured to 'the frame of the clock, the only movable portion being the plate g.

As it may sometimes chance that the lever F may be moved at some other than the predetermined moment, and the lever E thus released, an automatic detent is employed for preventing it from being operated except when the arm 02 has arrived ata point in its revolution where it will be engaged by the correcting-roller c3 it the lever E be released. This is accomplished by'providing a catch or hook, lc, upon the lever and causing it to be engaged by a halved pin, k, carried upon a pivoted arm, K. The pin normally tends'to fall toward the cateh,'and when the `lever E is raised it passes beneath the same. An extension, 7a2, of the arm K is engaged by a pin, k3, carried upon the arm c2. The revolution of the arbor B will bring the pin against this extension and Vpush the pivoted arm K backward, and thus release the lever E when the arm c'l is in position to bev engaged by the roller ci, so that should the lever E be released by an accidental movement of the lever F during the interval in which the halved pin 7c is removed from the path of the hook K, no material harm would be done. Vhen thelever has fallen to the limit of its movement, the roller d strikes against the narrower portion of the snail D, and the latter is so constructed that it will not commence to raise the lever E until the arm c has passed beyond the path of the pin or roller c3. The snail then begins to widen and gradually raises the lever to the position shown in the drawings. The disk Gis preferably constructed with a balancing portiomdopposite the arms c and c?, and this serves as a counter-poise tothe minute-hand and disk C with the projections c and c2, causing a uniform resistance in raising the lever E by the snail D.

It is desirable in many instances to set orto correct the second-hand of a clock as well as the minute-hand, and this is accomplished in a convenient manner by constructing the lever E with an arm, n, carrying a pin, n. This pin engages an extension, u, of a pivoted arm, N, and during the downward movement of the lever E causes the-arm N to rise. A hook or U shaped extension carried upon the lever N is designed to engage a friction-roller, o', car- IOO IIO

ried upon a disk, O,which is connected in any suitable manner with the second-hand of the clock. The upward movement of the lever sangue u 'them when it is engaged by one or the other. The hand and disl; are frictionally connected with their shaft or arbor in any convenient manner, as also is the minute-hand ofthe clock.

\Ve claim as our invention- 1. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of the minute-hand of a clock, two independent converging arms moving therewith, a pin or correcting-roller designed to enter between and pass beyond said arms, a lever carrying the same, and a pneumatic release applied to said lever.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the minute-hand of a clock, of two independent converging arms, a frictional roller combining with said arms to set the hand of the clock, and means for causing said roller to stand between said arms for an instant when the clock has been set, and to then pass beyond them, substantially as described.

8. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with a clock-hand and asetting device consist-ing of converging arms having parallel extensions and a correcting-arm applied thereto, of means l'or normally preventing said correcting device from operating, a device moving with the clock-hand for placing said device in a condition to be operated at a predetermined time, and means, substantially such as described, for setting the device in operation at a predetermined moment.

4. rlhe combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the arbor of a clockhand, a hand-setting device, and a lever for operating the same, of a snail moving with the arbor for placing said lever in position to operate the setting device, a friction-roller carried upon the lever and engaged by the snail, and a lined pi n also carried upon the lever and remaining in contact with the snail after the latter has passed beyond the roller, substantially as described.

The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with a clock-setting device consisting of a movable lever, means controlled thereby for moving a hand backward ror forward, and a device moving with the arbor of the clock for placing said lever in position to operate the setting device, of a counterpoise moving with the arbor for balancing the resistance encountered in raising said lever, substantially as described.

6. A pneumatic release for operating the clock-setting device, consisting of an expanding-chamber, an escape-valve from said chamber, a spring normally holding said valve open but overcome by an impulse sent into the chamber, and a lever moving with the movable portion of said chamber.

7. The combination, substantially as here inbefore set forth, with a cloclesetting device, of the movable plate g ofthe airchamber or pneumatic device G, the spring liz, the valve h', the inclosing-tube if, organized substantially as described.

8. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with the clock-setting device, of the lever E, for operating the device, the lever F,`the pin e, carried upon the lever E, and the two detents c and ci, carried upon the lever F.

9. The combination, substantially as here inbefore set forth, with a clocksetting device consisting of a movable lever, and means for causing said lever to periodically move the hand to be corrected, ol' a detent momentarily interposed in the path of said lever when it is actuated and serving to retain the same in position to hold said hand in agivcn position.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names this Sth day ol' January, A. D. 1886.

JAMES H. GERRY. MARSHALL E. HUNTER. Witnesses:

DANI.. W. Enencoiie, CHARLES A. TERRY. 

